CoderDojo Brisbane returns for another year

Hundreds of Brisbane kids will hone their digital skills when CoderDojo returns to Brisbane this year.

Part of Brisbane Marketing’s Digital Brisbane program CoderDojo Brisbane will once again provide a forum for school-aged children to learn how to code and ultimately boost the future digital capabilities of Brisbane residents.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said CoderDojo Brisbane was building on the momentum established with its introduction in 2013, with spaces in the program already full for the first half of the year.

“Brisbane was the first city in Australia to introduce the program and since launching in July 2013, CoderDojo Brisbane has held 20 sessions with more than 120 kids in attendance, recruited more than 40 mentors and had more than 10,000 visitors to the website,” Cr Quirk said.

The program is part of a world-wide movement of free, not-for-profit coding clubs and offers regular digital sessions for young people where they can choose coding projects such as building a website, app or game, with mentors guiding them as they learn.

“As part of our Digital Brisbane Strategy, CoderDojo Brisbane is helping to ensure Brisbane’s future generation is fluent in the language of coding and can meet the ever-growing demand for coding and programming expertise,” Cr Quirk said.

“We hope that you were able to secure your spot at a location near you but if you missed out – don’t worry – more sessions for the second half of the year will be opening soon.”

CoderDojo was founded in Ireland in 2011 by Australian Bill Liao. It has since gone global and is run in 23 countries.

Mr Liao said the popularity of CoderDojo Brisbane confirmed there was a real hunger in Brisbane’s kids for digital creativity.

“CoderDojo Brisbane is putting my home city of Melbourne to shame with its huge success and it also shows how strong the volunteer spirit in Brisbane is,” Mr Liao said.

“Kids need informal spaces where it’s ok to jam with their friends so that they get good at coding. CoderDojo has proven that such creative coding can be provided around the world by local communities for free.”

Spaces are still available to become a CoderDojo Brisbane mentor. For more information, click here.

2014 program

Chermside Library: 8 February – 15 March

Sunnybank Hills Library: 8 February – 29 March

Carindale Library: 15 February – 22 March

Mt Ommaney Library: 22 February – 29 March

Garden City Library: 3 May – 7 June

Sunnybank Hills Library: 3 May – 21 June

Indooroopilly Library: 10 May – 14 June

CoderDojo Brisbane at a glance

CoderDojo Brisbane is a free and open non-profit movement enabling kids aged 7-17 to learn to code.

CoderDojo Brisbane is a Brisbane Marketing initiative under the Brisbane Digital Strategy.

The CoderDojo movement began in Ireland in 2011 and has since gone global with dojos being held in 23 countries, reaching thousands of young people.

Anyone can start their own CoderDojo.

Mentors work their way around the room to assist participants with coding and their projects.

Participants under the age of 16 must have a parent with them at all times.

Participants and volunteer mentors are free to register for as many sessions as they are able to, however a minimum of four week blocks is recommended.